A high-stakes decision on the fate of Lockheed Martin Corp's premier F-22 fighter jet will be made known only with the release of the fiscal 2010 budget, not by March 1 as some people had expected, a U.S. Defense Department spokesman says.

The administration's plans for the radar-evading F-22 “like all big-dollar programs, and particularly programs facing execution problems ... will not be known until the budget is structured and released,” said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary.

The F-22 is the most advanced fighter in the U.S. inventory. It has become an emblem of a debate about balancing purchases for wars such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan against those for deterring threats from other potential adversaries.

President Barack Obama's detailed spending plans are expected to be sent to Congress in April, after a more general summary of the fiscal 2010 budget is delivered on Thursday. Fiscal 2010 starts Oct. 1.

Congress provided $140 million in bridge funds to keep the F-22's production line going until at least March 1, when lawmakers had wanted the administration to make up its mind on whether to buy more than the 183 F-22s now on order or delivered.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Obama's sole cabinet holdover from former president George W. Bush, has been cool to extending the production line, favoring Lockheed's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a multinational development effort. The F-35s cost roughly half as much as the F-22, Gates has said.

The administration planned to notify Congress on or about March 1 of its latest thinking on $90 million in congressionally provided bridge funds for the F-22 that the Pentagon has not yet allocated, Morrell said .

“You should not read into it necessarily that this is a road map of where we are going” with the aircraft, Morrell said. Rather, it would bring Congress up to date on parts that must be pre-ordered to be ready in time for production.

“Whatever we decide to do by March 1 with regard to long-lead parts is not necessarily an indication of where we're going with the program as a whole,” Morrell said.